Scottish Executive

Ambulance Service

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the impact of the introduction of NHS24 has been on the operation of the ambulance service in Ayrshire.

Malcolm Chisholm: NHS24 has been operational in the Ayrshire and Arran NHS Board area since May 2003, dealing with calls from the public as well as handling out of hours calls on behalf of GPs. In the period immediately after its introduction, there was a significant increase in the number of out of hours calls assessed by NHS24 as requiring an emergency response by the Scottish Ambulance Service, compared to the number requested by the out-of-hours GP service over the same period in 2002. However, this number is steadily decreasing as NHS24 call handlers become more familiar with the systems that inform the decisions about the appropriate response for the patient.

  NHS24 is working closely with the Scottish Ambulance Service to maximise the effectiveness of the services provided by both organisations. If the member has any specific concerns about the operational activities of NHS24 or the ambulance service he should contact the relevant Chief Executive.

Asylum Seekers

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive at what point its responsibilities end for the provision of services to dispersed asylum seekers.

Ms Margaret Curran: The point at which the Executive's responsibilities for providing services to dispersed asylum seekers end will depend on the individual circumstances of each case and the services in question.

Cities

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-30963 by Lewis Macdonald on 13 November 2002 and S2W-1722 by Nicol Stephen on 29 August 2003, whether it regards Glasgow as a town or a city and what criteria it uses when assessing town or city status in relation to such questions.

Nicol Stephen: A city. For the sake of completeness the answer covered towns and other locations with a population of more than 5,000.

Community Wardens

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what powers are proposed for community wardens, and, in particular, whether they will have powers of arrest and detention.

Ms Margaret Curran: Wardens will not be given police powers to fulfil their functions and will have no powers of arrest or detention. Local authorities are already able to give their employees powers to issue fixed penalty notices for activities such as littering, and it will be for each authority to decide whether it is appropriate for these powers to be given to their community wardens.

Conservation

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that offshore wind and fish farms are not located in coastal areas that qualify as special protection areas or special areas of conservation under the EU birds and habitats directives.

Lewis Macdonald: The Conservation (Natural Habitats, & Conservation) Regulations 1994 include a duty for competent authorities to exercise their functions with regard to the requirements of the habitats directive and regulation 48 states that where a competent authority considers that a plan or project is likely to have a significant effect on a special protection area or a special area of conservation, it shall undertake an appropriate assessment of the implications of the site. If the appropriate assessment shows that a plan or project would have an adverse effect on the conservation interests for which the site has been designated, the proposal will only be permitted where there is no alternative solution and there are imperative reasons of over-riding public interest.

Conservation

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how potential impacts on nature conservation are assessed when considering renewable energy developments and what protection is afforded to species and habitats of international conservation significance listed on EU conservation directives, the Ramsar Convention and similar conventions to which Scotland is party.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: A range of mechanisms are in place to ensure potential impacts are fully assessed, including scrutiny against development plan policies, environmental impact assessment and consultation with Scottish Natural Heritage.

  Projects which would have an adverse effect on the conservation interests for which a site of international significance has been designated should only be permitted where there is no alternative solution and there are imperative reasons of over-riding public interest, including those of a social or economic nature. Where a priority habitat or species (as defined in Article 1 of the Habitats Directive) would be affected, prior consultation with the European Commission is required unless the development is necessary for public health or safety reasons.

Employment

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to bring manufacturing and assembly jobs to Scotland to meet the demand for the production of wind turbines.

Lewis Macdonald: Our policies have already attracted significant manufacturing investment to Scotland. For example, Vestas-Celtic in Kintyre has provided 186 jobs for a returning workforce, and the rejuvenation of the Arnish yard in Lewis by Cambrian Engineering which has resulted in the creation of over 60 jobs. We will continue to work through the enterprise networks and use the outcomes of the study into the future potential of the industry to promote further investment opportunities.

Energy

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how 60% of energy will be non-renewable after 2010, given the closure and downgrading of baseload stations such as Cockenzie, Longannet and Torness.

Lewis Macdonald: Decisions on the future of existing stations are for the plant owners. The overall pattern of electricity production and consumption in 2010 including the proportion of non-renewable energy used will depend on a number of factors, including variations in fuel prices, energy efficiency, and the level of commitment by generators to refurbish or to build thermal plant.

Fuel Poverty

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of how fuel poverty impacts on its target for providing warm, affordable housing.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: We will publish the annual report for 2002-03 on the central heating programme and the warm deal which will detail how much they improve the energy efficiency of dwellings in the new year. We have commissioned research into how the central heating programme impacts on fuel poverty and we will be able to publish the first report in the new year. We will analyse the data from the Scottish House Condition Survey 2002 to see what further interventions we can make to eradicate fuel poverty effectively.

Hospitals

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many hospitals in the West of Scotland region were closed to acute admissions and how many (a) days and (b) nights they were closed for such purposes in the week beginning 10 November 2003.

Malcolm Chisholm: In NHS Argyll and Clyde and NHS Dumfries and Galloway there were no hospitals closed to acute admissions in the week beginning 10 November 2003.

  While neither of the two district general hospitals in Ayrshire and Arran were closed to emergency acute admissions, there were four short periods (two hours or less) of closure to GP referrals over the period. Both hospitals work flexibly over peak pressure periods to maintain acute admissions: when one hospital is closed to admissions, the other will receive.

  Lanarkshire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust received all arranged emergency admissions during the period. The three acute hospitals in Lanarkshire received all self presenters and patients arriving by ambulance at each hospital during the period. Wishaw General Hospital was closed to GP referred emergency admissions (general surgery) on 9 November into 10 November (19 hours) with those patients being received at Monklands Hospital. Hairmyres Hospital was closed to GP referred emergency admissions (general surgery only) on 12 November into 13 November (27 hours) with those patients being received at Monklands Hospital.

  In Greater Glasgow, the Victoria Infirmary closed to GP referrals (male admissions) once overnight (12 hours) and to all GP referrals twice (12 and 9 hours, respectively) during the period. The Southern General Hospital closed to GP referrals overnight once (four hours) during the period. Both Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Stobhill Hospital remained open to all acute admissions for the entire period. The Western Infirmary diverted GP emergencies on two occasions: once at night for a period of four hours (11 November) and once during the day for a period of two hours (17 November). All other patients (self-referrals, for example) continued to be treated at the Western Infirmary during this time. A total of six GP emergencies were diverted from the Western Infirmary to either Glasgow Royal Infirmary or Stobhill Hospital during the period.

Hospitals

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients were redirected from hospitals within the West of Scotland region in the week beginning 10 November 2003.

Malcolm Chisholm: Thirty patients were redirected from hospitals within the West of Scotland, excluding NHS Greater Glasgow, in the week beginning 10 November 2003.

  The number of patients redirected within NHS Greater Glasgow is not routinely available at this time. However, no patients in the West of Scotland, including NHS Greater Glasgow, were redirected to a hospital outside their resident NHS board area in the relevant period.

Justice

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2508 by Cathy Jamieson on 11 October 2003, how many applications were made for extension of the 110 day rule in 2000 and 2002 and how many applications were granted.

Cathy Jamieson: A search of 93% of the indictments registered in the High Court in 2000 has shown that there were 133 applications for extension of the 110 day time limit in custody indictments. The number granted is not available. Further primary research carried out since my response to S2W-2508 shows that in the year 2002 there were 149 applications for extension in the High Court of which 146 were granted.

Justice

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3240 by Colin Boyd QC on 4 November 2003, who was responsible for the decision that Mr McKie's letter did not indicate that he was in possession of any further relevant information in connection with the perjury case against Shirley McKie and under what criteria the judgement was made.

Colin Boyd QC: It is not Crown Office policy to identify the individuals involved in investigations or decisions.

Licensing of Taxis

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to address taxi regulations following the report by the Office of Fair Trading The regulation of licensed taxi and PHV services in the UK .

Tavish Scott: Scottish ministers have agreed to provide a response to the Office of Fair Trading's report within 120 days of publication, in line with other government departments. We are currently considering the recommendations contained in the report and have invited comments from interested parties prior to responding to the Office of Fair Trading. Thereafter, consideration will be given to what, if any, changes are required to the existing legislative framework.

Maritime Safety

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there have been representations from community councils in Ardnamurchan and Morvern regarding any potential danger posed by tankers using the Sound of Mull; what information it has on the potential danger of cargo coming ashore on the Sound and its impact on industry and wildlife; whether it plans to introduce restrictions on traffic presently using the Sound of Mull and, if so, whether it will instigate a process of consultation with all relevant parties and community councils.

Nicol Stephen: The representations received from Morvern Community Council relate to reserved matters and were referred to the Department for Transport for reply. Maritime safety matters are reserved.

Ministerial Correspondence

Mr Kenneth Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its performance in answering ministerial correspondence was in the third quarter of 2003.

Patricia Ferguson: In the answer given to question S1W-24583 on 23 March 2002, I undertook to continue to report quarterly on the numbers of letters received by ministers and our performance in answering them. This is the second quarter in which I am reporting performance on letters only and not invitations.

  In the quarter July to September 2003, 2,619 letters were received for ministerial reply of which 66% received a reply within 17 working days, and 84% received a reply within 25 working days. In the same period ministers received 783 invitations.

NHS Equipment

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects a decision to be made on the options proposed in Appliance Contractors–Consultation Document .

Mr Tom McCabe: My officials are currently considering the responses received on the appliance contractors consultation and I anticipate announcing a decision in the new year.

National Health Service

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the NHS has sufficient capacity to cope with acute admissions over the winter.

Malcolm Chisholm: It is very important to make sure that the additional pressures that winter brings to health and social care services do not disrupt care for patients and clients. The NHS and its planning partners are now preparing for this winter with plans developed upon the experience of previous winters. Health boards are only too well aware of the pressures that winter can bring and there is no complacency in their approach to preparations.

  Plans will include extra staff, more beds, increased critical care capacity, additional nursing home places, and continued co-ordinated action on delayed discharge. This is supported by significant extra investment with health spending set to increase on average by more than £630 million each year from 2003-04 to 2005-06 and £30 million allocated specifically to address delayed discharges from hospitals.

National Health Service

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much money has been transferred between Scotland's NHS boards due to out-of-area treatments since 2000, broken down by board.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held centrally.

National Health Service

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether NHS boards are permitted to assist patients with travel expenses to access NHS dental treatment in other board areas when no such treatment is available locally.

Mr Tom McCabe: NHS boards can apply to Scottish ministers for approval of schemes to assist eligible patients with travel expenses to access primary care NHS dental treatment. The funding for such schemes comes from within the board's unified budget. Patients who fall within eligible categories may already receive help with travel costs for dental treatment which is provided in hospital by a consultant.

Police

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much, and what proportion of, (a) its total spending and (b) gross domestic product was spent on policing in each of the last four years and what proportion of its total spending is projected to be spent on policing in the next two years.

Cathy Jamieson: The information is shown in the following table.

  

 

Expenditure on the Police Service in Scotland


 
Total
(£ billion)

As Percentage of Expenditure by Scottish Executive

As Percentage of Gross Domestic Product



1999-2000

0.8

4.7

1.2



2000-01

0.8

4.4

1.2



2001-02

0.9

4.3

1.2



2002-03

0.9

4.3

Not available



2003-04 (estimated)

1.0

4.3

Not available



2004-05 (planned)

1.1

4.4

Not available



  Notes:

  1. Figures of expenditure on the Police Service and on the expenditure by the Scottish Executive are taken from annual expenditure reports and the Draft Budget 2004-05.

  2. Figures of gross domestic product at basic prices (more usually known as gross value added) are as published by the Office of National Statistics.

Prison Service

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to address any shortages of Scottish Prison Service staff due to absences from service for the purpose of attending court to confirm a prisoner's identification.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Scottish Prison Service Staff are not normally required to attend court for the purpose of confirming a prisoner's identification.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its highest and lowest projections are for prison population for mid-year 2006.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The latest available information is given in table 1 of the Prison Population Projections, Scotland, 2002-2003 to 2012-2013 news release issued by the Scottish Prison Service on 27 November 2003. Copies are available in the Parliament's Reference Centre (Bib. number 29959).

Renewable Energy

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what incentives are available to encourage energy production from biomass.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive is working with UK colleagues to put in place an Energy Crops Infrastructure Support grant scheme. The aim is to provide support to generating plants that utilise energy crops and forestry residue as the fuel sources. State aids approval is being sought and it is hoped that the scheme can be brought into operation shortly. £3.5 million will be available in the period to 2005.

  Biomass projects based in Scotland have benefited from the DTI sponsored UK capital grant scheme for biomass technologies.

  Grant assistance is also available for growing short rotation coppice (SRC) under both the Woodland Grant Scheme (WGS) and the new Scottish Forestry Grants Scheme (SFGS). Both schemes are managed by the Forestry Commission.

  The forum for renewable energy development in Scotland will be tasked at its January meeting with producing an action plan for the development of a viable biomass industry in Scotland.

Renewable Energy

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive who will pay for the undersea cables to connect additional wind energy from the Northern Isles to the National Electricity Grid.

Lewis Macdonald: The regulation of the electricity network is a reserved matter and network upgrades, including undersea cables to connect the Northern Isles to the mainland electricity network, are a matter for the network owners in conjunction with the regulator, Ofgem.

  The planned introduction of the British Electricity Trading and Transmission Arrangements (BETTA) will allow for the costs of the new transmission capability which will be necessary to support the development of renewable energy to be borne by electricity users across Great Britain.

Renewable Energy

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what assistance is being given towards research and development for tidal and wave power initiatives.

Lewis Macdonald: The research and development budget for renewable energy is administered by the Department of Trade and Industry under their New and Renewable Energy Programme (NREP) which has an annual baseline budget of £19 million. Since 1999, the programme has committed in excess of £15 million to research and development in this area. Additional support of £5 million will be provided through a capital grants scheme in 2004-05, subject to a review of progress and state aids approval, together with a further £2 million ring fenced for wave and tidal technologies under the NREP in financial year 2004-05.

  The Scottish Executive is providing £2.125 million towards the capital cost of the European Marine Energy Test Centre off Orkney, currently under construction and due to open shortly. The centre will be a major facility for testing marine energy devices. We will also be providing, through Scottish Enterprise, £150 million over 10 years to the new Energy Intermediary Technology Institute which will significantly improve the opportunities to bring new renewable energy technologies to market.

Renewable Energy

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether guidance will be issued on community benefits in relation to wind farm developments.

Lewis Macdonald: The level of community benefit is a matter between individual developers and communities and ministers have no powers to intervene. However, we are keen to work with representatives of interested parties to see if best practice guidelines can be prepared on the matter of community benefit generally.

Renewable Energy

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many long-term jobs will be created as a result of wind farm development.

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive, in partnership with Renewables UK, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, has commissioned a study of the current status of the UK renewables industry and its future potential. The study, which will be published around the end of the year, will provide information on employment opportunities in the renewables industry, including the wind sector.

Renewable Energy

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what route will be used for new pylons to carry the additional energy from wind farms in the north and west of Scotland to Denny, Stirlingshire.

Lewis Macdonald: Under the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2000 the developer must assess the potential environmental impacts of its proposal on a number of alternative routes prior to submitting an application. The company is preparing its environmental statement and hopes shortly to consult local communities and others and expects to make an application to Scottish ministers under section 37 of the Electricity Act 1989 next summer.

Renewable Energy

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much renewable energy from Scotland will be supplied to England in the next 10 years.

Lewis Macdonald: This will depend on a number of factors including level of demand for electricity, variations in fuel prices, decisions taken on the operation of existing generating stations and the construction of new generating stations.

  The planned introduction of the British Electricity Transmission and Trading Arrangements is expected to increase the accessibility of the English market to Scottish companies.

Renewable Energy

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether money provided in the form of community benefits in respect of wind farm development can be used for provision of affordable housing.

Lewis Macdonald: These monies are generally paid into community trust funds, the use of which are a matter for the community concerned.

Roads

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2006 by Nicol Stephen on 25 September 2003, what further information it now has on timescales for the planning inquiry into, and the commencement of, the construction of A8000.

Nicol Stephen: A public local inquiry into the proposals for the A8000–M9 Spur upgrade will take place on 28 and 29 January 2004. Decisions on the commencement of construction of the road are the responsibility of the City of Edinburgh Council as promoter of the project.

Roads

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the roles will be of (a) the Forth Estuary Transport Authority and (b) Transport Scotland in the construction of the A8000.

Nicol Stephen: The upgrade of the A8000–M9 Spur is to be funded by the Forth Estuary Transport Authority and promoted by the City of Edinburgh Council as a local road project. The roles and responsibilities of the national transport agency are currently the subject of consultation.

Roads

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many boundary disputes remain unresolved between AMEY Highways Ltd and local authorities in the South of Scotland.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive is not aware of any unresolved disputes between AMEY Highways Ltd and local authorities in the South of Scotland.

Schools

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Stirling Council with regard to the future of Holy Trinity Episcopal Primary School.

Peter Peacock: The Scottish Executive has had no such discussions with Stirling Council.

Scottish Natural Heritage

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to provide additional resources to Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) to enable it to attend public local inquiries on wind farm applications where SNH has raised an objection to the application.

Allan Wilson: None.

Scottish Natural Heritage

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the requirements of human rights legislation are being met with regard to the non-attendance of Scottish National Heritage (SNH) at public local inquiries in respect of wind farm applications where SNH have objected to the application.

Allan Wilson: Interpretation of human rights legislation is a matter for the courts.

Telecommunications

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what figures it has on the number of terrestrial trunked radio masts that have been, or are currently in the process of being, installed in Scotland.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Whilst the Scottish Executive collects data on the number of planning applications submitted for radio telecommunications developments, it does not ask planning authorities to distinguish between operators or technologies. We are, therefore, unable to provide the figures requested.

Telecommunications

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the current emissions pulse transmitted by the terrestrial trunked radio network in Scotland.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive does not maintain records on the emissions from the terrestrial trunked radio network in Scotland. The Radiocommunications Agency undertake measurements from TETRA and cellular base stations on a United Kingdom basis and publish these results on their website at www.radio.gov.uk .